


The Cat is, Above All Things, a Dramatist

by TheOnlyCeeCeeJ



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Crazy, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grooming, Halloween Challenge, Hermione as a cat, Hermione goes crazy, Hermione is Stressed, Hogwarts Fifth Year, I have no idea where this came from, Light Angst, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Polyjuice Potion, Potions Accident, Scratching, Trapped, Unrequited Love, Voldemort didn't come back fourth year, acting like a cat, crazy hermione, drinking milk, referenced second year, sleeping, trapped in your mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 05:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21174128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyCeeCeeJ/pseuds/TheOnlyCeeCeeJ
Summary: After Hermione was turned into a cat in second year, she thought it was all over as she walked out of the infirmary fur-free. What she didn’t realise was that it was all laying dormant, waiting to be released.





	The Cat is, Above All Things, a Dramatist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Writer's Den Discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Writer%27s+Den+Discord).

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> So the Discord group I am in, Writer's Den, has set another writing contest for Halloween! The prompt was for the character to go crazy. I was initially going to write some dark, scary thing, but then this idea popped into my head. I thought this was going to be a funny / crazy story and I guess part of it is, but somehow as I continued writing, I got all lost in the feels! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Let me know! Comment / Kudos <3

**1993**  
Harry, Ron and Hermione toasted their cups of Slytherin flavoured sludge and downed the potion as quickly as they could. As fast as the goo slid down their throats, they felt like it was crawling back up. Hermione ran to the first stall that she could reach and slammed the door closed. She faintly heard Ron run shortly after her, another door closing nearby, but she couldn’t focus. Her stomach was churning and her body felt strange. She crouched down, her knees trembling on the wet floor. She could feel her face changing, she had read that this wouldn’t be comfortable but something felt wrong. She could feel hair sprouting from every pore, her head started aching as something stretched up and sprouted. She leaned forward, gripping the toilet bowl and cried out in pain as her tailbone stretched and ripped through the waistband of the skirt she had on. 

_This is wrong. So so wrong,_ Hermione thought to herself. _The potion was brewed to perfection. What could have happened? This shouldn’t be happening._ When the pain finally subsided, Hermione opened her eyes and she gasped. Her vision was different, she could see much more than before in the dark, dingy loo. She brought her trembling hands up to her face and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing or feeling. Her hands were covered in fur and when she touched her face, she felt whiskers. Her breathing quickened as she ran her fingers over her furry face and up to her head where two twitching ears sat.

_No no no no!_ Hermione thought as she felt her behind and found a tail moving gracefully of its own accord. _This can’t be happening. How could I have got this so wrong?! I should’ve been more careful! I should’ve checked the hair properly! What am I going to do now?!_

Soon, she heard the boys calling for her. She couldn’t let them see her like this so she told them to go away. She told them to go without her, they couldn’t waste time. They were insistent and eventually after several internal monologues and thoughts of how she could explain this, she unlocked the door, swinging open slowly. She could see the boys had both changed successfully, their new eyes widened in shock and she was sure she could see Ron stifling a laugh.

“‘Mione, what happened?” Harry / Goyle asked, obviously worried for his friend. 

Hermione kept her eyes on the floor, occasionally catching her tail swinging in her peripheral. “It must have been cat fur I plucked from Millicent’s robes. You need to go.” 

“But Hermione…” Harry made a step forward but Hermione threw herself away from him, almost falling into the toilet bowl.

“Please, you need to go now. I’ll… I’ll be ok.” When the boys hesitated, she stormed forward and pushed them towards the door. “Go! Now!”

The boys left the bathroom and made their way to the Slytherin Dorms. Meanwhile, Hermione creeped through the corridors towards the Infirmary, thankful that everyone was still at dinner and she didn’t see anyone the entire journey. She pushed the door open and praised the gods that there was no one else unwell or injured that evening. She got to Madame Pomfrey’s office and knocked timidly on the door. 

The Medi-Witch opened the door and gasped in shock, “Oh my dear, what happened to you?” She asked as she bustled Hermione over to the nearest bed. “And just who it is under all of that fur?”

Hermione sighed as she took a seat, “Well you see, Madame Pomfrey…”

“Miss Granger? Is that you? Oh you poor dear.” Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wand and summoned privacy curtains to surround them. She took a seat next to Hermione on the bed and placed her hands in her lap. “Now, I do need to know what happened here. I know you must be scared, but I want to help you. I need to know what happened so that I can ensure you are healed correctly.”

Hermione hesitated for a moment. 

“Miss Granger, there is such a thing as patient confidentiality. Unless something genuinely illegal has gone on, I will not divulge details of your situation to anyone. Professor McGonagall will be required to know that you are in here, but it can be your choice if she is informed of why.”

Hermione thought for a moment. She couldn’t let anyone know about their plan to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, but she knew that she couldn’t outright lie. Her healing depended on the truth of her condition being revealed. “I have been reading up on advanced potions and decided that I wanted to attempt one,” she said, her eyes staying on the floor. 

“Ok, and which potion did you brew, dear?”

“It was… um… Polyjuice potion, Madame Pomfrey. I brewed it according to the instructions and decided to test it. I got hair off of another student’s robes and I guess you can see the results.”

“Oh dearie, do you understand how dangerous that is to be doing alone, especially as you are only thirteen years old! You must have read that it’s not supposed to be used for animal transformations,” Madame Pomfrey scolded. 

“I did. It wasn’t my intention for this to happen. I was incredibly careless in my execution. I should have asked a friend for hair instead of risking it the way that I did.” 

Madame Pomfrey tutted and nodded. “Right you are. I am going to have to speak with Professor McGonagall.” She got up and walked over to her potions cabinet, coming back with three potions. “Here, drink these. The first is to flush the polyjuice from your system, the second is to remove the magically induced hair covering your body, the last is dreamless sleep. It’s better for you to be out like a light whilst all of this works on your body. Go to sleep, when you wake up, I am sure your Head of House will wish to speak with you.”

Hermione gulped down the potions before her and laid back, letting herself be pulled into a quiet sleep. As promised, her tail slowly retracted, her face returned to normal and the hair slowly disappeared and left in the bed was Hermione just as she had been before her mishap. 

The next morning, Hermione woke up to find her stern Head of House waiting for her. Hermione sat up and allowed herself to be lectured on the dangerousness of what she had done, points were taken and detention was issued. A full week with Filtch. As the Scottish witch left the infirmary, Hermione readied herself to return to the common room. Before she could leave, Madame Pomfrey sat her down and ran a few diagnostic spells.

“Miss Granger, it looks as though you are all clear. Please try to be careful when experimenting. If you wish to advance your studies, I’m sure a teacher would be happy to supervise,” she smiled.

Hermione nodded, “I will. Thank you, Madame Pomfrey. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Poppy waved her off, “Oh posh! It’s my job to fix you all up. Now, off with you. Try to rest for the remainder of the weekend and stay away from secret brewing, ok?” 

“I will,” Hermione promised with a small smile.

The following weeks flew by. Hermione spent most of the first weekend in bed, only coming down Sunday night and laying with her head in Harry’s lap half-asleep whilst the boys discussed quidditch plays. She served her detention without any resistance; dusting trophies, cleaning toilets and many other disgusting menial tasks. Throughout this time, the only side effect of her accidental transformation was the occasional hairball she found herself coughing up. After a month or so, Hermione was fully back to her previous self…

Or so she thought.

**1996**  
It was O.W.L year and sixteen-year-old Hermione was completely focused on her studies. She had already devised her schedule for homework, self study and free-reading. She spent her time either in class or in the library, determined to learn everything she needed to know in order to pass all of her exams. As time drew on, Harry and Ron started to notice something strange. 

Several times a day, Hermione could be found dozing or passed out asleep in her pile of books. During class, whoever was sitting next to the witch would nudge her to try and keep her awake. The first few times, Hermione just snorted and went back to reading her book or writing whatever notes she was in the middle of taking. A couple of days later, whenever she was awoken, she would bear her teeth and hiss at the offender who broke her from her slumber. One time, Seamus had been the one to try to wake her in Transfiguration and she had scratched him right across his face, After that, people started leaving her to it. 

In the common room, Hermione wouldn’t be doing her usual studying. People would find her curled up in front of the fire or next to her friends fast asleep. Whenever someone asked her if she was ok, she just brushed it off, saying that she was fine. Harry and Ron tried to keep as close an eye on her as they could without risking scratches or bites (she had tried that once).

After a couple of weeks, Harry and Ron sat together in the common room, with Hermione fast asleep curled up between them.

“Ron, there’s gotta be something wrong with Hermione,” Harry whispered so as to not wake the sleeping witch.

“Yeah, but what? I mean, she doesn’t stop sleeping.”

“During the day, anyways. Do you think she’s up all night studying?” Harry asked, trying to reason things.

“What do you mean?” Ron shrugged. 

“I mean, she’s asleep a lot of the day and most of the evening. She’s gotta be tired for some reason. Do you think she’s trying to study at night. With O.W.Ls coming up, she’s gotta be stressed out, trying to make sure she keeps up with all of her classes. You know what ‘Mione is like when it comes to studying.”

“That could be it,” Ron nodded, “do you think we should ask her about it tomorrow? Maybe we can help.”

“Yeah, we can ask her tomorrow,” Harry agreed, brushing a stray hair off of Hermione’s face before running a hand through her hair as she slept. 

Suddenly a noise rumbled from within Hermione and both boys stared at each other with an incredulous look on their faces, their eyes saying the same thing. _Did she just purr?_

The next morning, Harry and Ron pulled Hermione aside to talk to her and see if she would open up to them. She smiled and hugged them, thanking them for their concern but assuring them that she was fine. The stress of exams was just getting to her, she said. She knew what she was doing and they needn’t worry. Hermione hugged them once more and led the way to breakfast. They took their usual place at the Gryffindor table and started helping themselves to their breakfast. 

Hermione pulled a small dish close to herself and turned to Ron. “Could you pass me the milk, please?” 

Ron completely ignored Hermione, favouring his own food to keep him entertained. As Hemione huffed, Harry leaned over and picked up the jug of milk, passing it to Hermione’s waiting hands. Harry turned back to prepare his breakfast, assuming Hermione was fixing herself her usual morning cup of tea. Moments later, Dean nudged Harry in the ribs and pointed in Hermione’s direction. Harry turned and almost choked on a piece of sausage. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Hermione was leaning over the table, lapping milk from the dish. Her eyes were closed in enjoyment and she was obviously unaware that half of Gryffindor was staring at her. Hermione stayed blissfully ignorant, savouring her milk and lapping up every drop before taking a napkin and wiping her chin. She prepared her morning tea and spooned herself a bowl of porridge before starting to eat. 

Hermione looked up to see all of her friends were staring at her. “What?” She asked, having another spoonful of porridge.

“‘Mione, you were… You… Did you not notice what you were doing?” Ron spluttered. 

“What? I had a glass of milk before my tea. What’s wrong with that?” Hermione shrugged, continuing to eat her breakfast. 

“But…” Ron began, only to be cut off by Harry.

“Leave it for now, Ron,” he said, before he leaned in and whispered, “she must be really tired still. Let’s just keep an eye on her and hopefully if there is anything wrong, she will speak with us. She knows we are here for her. Let’s just keep reminding her of that.”

As the days went on, Hermione’s tendency to sleep lessened and she was suddenly back to her normal self. Sleep-wise anyway. She still lapped at a bowl of milk at every meal before eating proper food and Harry was sure he had heard the purr a few more times, but they couldn’t convince Hermione that something was wrong. Especially since she was able to stay awake again. She outright refused to go and see Madame Pomfrey because she couldn’t recognise something was wrong. In her mind, stress had gotten to her and now she was over it.

Days passed and Hermione carried on most of her study schedule, heading to the library every moment that she wasn’t in class. Harry and Ron relaxed slightly as Hermione seemed a bit more normal (minus the milk thing, anyway) but still kept their eyes on her, knowing the stress would continue and anything could happen.

As the weeks went on, everyone seemed to just forget about all of the anomalies and continue with their lives. That was, until one Friday night in the Gryffindor common room. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire relaxing, the boys having convinced Hermione she could take one night off. They were laughing and joking together and after a while, Hermione’s attention started to waver. She wasn’t even acknowledging them, her eyes were set on one location. Once Ron noticed, he followed her eye line and worked out that she was staring over at his brothers and Lee, who were in a corner whispering to each other quietly. 

“Harry, I’ll be back in a sec,” Ron said as he stood and made his way over to the older boys.

Fred, George and Lee immediately stopped whatever they were discussing when they noticed that Ron was walking over. It wouldn’t do to have too many people know their plans. Pranks had to be shared on a need-to-know basis, and Ron definitely did not need to know. 

“What can we do for you, little brother?” Fred asked.

“Yes, you’re disrupting a very important meeting.” George continued. 

“Sorry, I just wanted to ask you a quick question,” Ron replied, almost nervously.

“Well go on then, time is money!” Lee laughed. 

“Has anything happened with you guys and Hermione?”

The three seventh years looked at Ron in shock. Getting asked a question like that completely out of the blue threw them through a loop. 

“What do you mean, Ron? Of course not!” Fred responded, slightly confused and horrified by the question.

Ron nodded, “Ok, no problem. Thanks, guys,” and he hurried back to his friends.

Fred, George and Lee all looked at each other, chuckling lightly at how uncomfortable the question had made them. Their previous conversation was completely forgotten and they couldn’t shake how awkward everything had gone. They quickly decided to move their conversation to their dorm, not wanting to be in the common room anymore that evening. George and Lee led the way, Fred staying behind slightly to pack up his bag. 

Once he had everything gathered, he made his way towards the stairs to the boys’ dorms. As he crossed the room, he glanced over to the Golden Trio and his eyes locked with Hermione’s. Uncharacteristically, she held his gaze the whole time. Confused, he carried on walking and as he got to the stairs, he turned once more to find Hermione’s eyes were still on him. He shook his head and made his way up the stairs, feeling those burning honey eyes on every inch of him until his ankles finally disappeared from view. 

Fred joined his brother and Lee’s conversation, still thoroughly baffled and unable to stop thinking about the girl. Sure, he _had_ noticed her before and he cared for her, she was his little brother’s best friend. When he got into bed an hour or so later, his thoughts were plagued with images of Hermione. Every time she smiled, every time she laughed, the way her brow furrowed whenever she was so deep in a book that she didn’t notice anyone around her, the way her eyes lit up whenever she found a new book. _Oh Merlin. This is… new. What the hell do I do now?!_

Following a night of restlessness, Fred decided it must have been the way Hermione looked at him that spurred on his rather unexpected thought processes the previous night and tried to continue on as normal. He got ready early and went about his Saturday as usual. He had breakfast and then he and most of Gryffindor decided that they would go down to the quidditch pitch and have a friendly match. 

The House Team split themselves up and took non-members on to make a mixed and fair game before releasing the balls. They played for a long while with plenty of goals scored and Harry & Ginny, the Seekers, dipping and weaving around the others in chase of that tiny ball that ended the game, but always losing it at the last minute. Whether that was on purpose or intentional, no one cared, they were having fun!

Fred decided to take a moment and set himself high up, slightly above the rest of the game. Bat in hand, he leaned forward slightly and rested his forearms across the front of his broom, taking in the game below him. His eyes scanned the entire field until they came to rest on the stands where his eyes locked onto those that had kept him up most of the night. 

Hermione sat in the stands completely alone and she was obviously staring again. When their eyes locked, Hermione smiled and waved. However, this wasn’t like her usual smiles. There was no blush, no shyness, no urgent need to look away. No. This smile was… Sultry? Fred couldn’t take his eyes off of the usually quiet bookworm as she flipped her mass of curls over her shoulder. His mouth went dry as the girl raised her hands over her head and stretched, her shirt rising enough to show off her taut stomach.

Fred shook his head and lowered his gaze for a moment, trying to rid himself of the incredibly impure thoughts that rammed their way into his mind. _No, Fred! That’s ‘Mione. No. No. No!_ As he dared to look back at the girl, his apparent uncontrollable need for the girl dissipated. Hermione had her eyes closed and seemed to be licking the back of her hands and up here arms before running the saliva through her hair. 

Fred took that moment to re-join the match, hitting the bludger away from one of his team members. _What the hell is going on!?_ He thought to himself.

After the match, everyone returned to the common room and everyone who played went to have a quick shower before promising to all meet up by the fire to discuss the events of the match. As they all made it to the common room, they spotted Hermione, who was the first through the door since she wasn’t playing, walking herself in small circles before plonking herself down on the rug in front of the fire, curled up in a ball. No one knew what to say and gave each other a weird look before ascending the stairs to their respective dorms. 

A little while later, everyone re-emerged clean and fresh, eager to have their play-by-play discussion. They all crowded onto the sofas and began, leaving the dozing Hermione where she was. Throughout the conversation, Fred kept trying to get Ron or Harry’s attention but the boys were too engrossed in their own quiet conversation to even notice, thinking the older redhead just wanted to talk quidditch. They kept glancing towards Hermione and shaking their heads, looking incredibly serious and concerned. Knowing that there was no chance of him getting through to them at all, he vowed to himself that he would be able to pull them aside later or catch them as they went to bed… Some time tonight for sure, so he joined in with the conversation the rest of the large group was having. 

After an hour or so, Hermione rolled onto her back arched up, yawning and stretching, the noise drawing the attention of the entire group. When she sits up, the group begin to cheer, which spooks the sleep-addled witch and she hides herself round the side of one of the sofas. 

Seamus decided to pipe up. “Afternoon, Hermione, nice of you to join us!”

Hermione pops her head up from her hiding place, searching for the source of the voice before shaking her head a little and standing up. “Oh do be quiet, Seamus, it’s the weekend. Isn’t resting what we’re supposed to be doing?”

Dean laughed, “Ok, but why on the floor? The place was empty when you got here. You could’ve chosen any of the comfy seats.”

Hermione smiled, “But then where would you sit? Anyway, I read somewhere that sleeping on the floor can be good for your back.” 

Dean turned to Seamus and muttered, “Yeah, but not curled up like that.” To which, Seamus snorted.

Hermione turned toward the boys and gave them her best death glare before beginning to look around at the group, trying to work out where to sit. She scanned the crowd until her eyes came to a stop on her desired target. Hermione walked around the table and came to a stop in front of Fred and George, doing a couple of little loops before placing herself unceremoniously between the twins, basically in Fred’s lap. George pushed himself to the side, making a bit of room for the witch and subsequently knocked Lee onto the floor.

“Hey!!” He shouted, rubbing his bruising arse. 

“Sorry mate, where she fits, she sits. Apparently.” George gave his friend an apologetic look and passed down a cushion for him to sit on. 

Hermione flung her legs over Fred’s lap and burrowed her head into the crook of his neck, purring and rubbing her bushy mane across the exposed skin. The entire group fell silent, watching the exchange. Quickly whispers began between everyone, speculating what was going on. _Were they together? What’s wrong with Hermione? Not so much a secret now, is it?!_ Fred sat frozen in his place, eyes wide in shock, Harry was trying to whisper to Ron whilst Ron was looking at at Fred with a slightly angry look on his face. 

Ron mouthed, “What the fuck!?” at Fred, shaking his head.

Fred shrugged his shoulders and mouthed back, “No clue, she’s _your_ friend!”

Hermione, sensing the quiet but obviously not understanding why, kept her eyes closed and asked, “So what was everyone talking about?”

Everyone chuckled awkwardly and eventually carried on as they were before Hermione woke up. They did, however, keep shooting glances over at the cosy looking Hermione and incredibly uncomfortable Fred. Throughout the conversation, Hermione kept shuffling her position around Fred. At one point, she was knelt on the sofa, digging her nails into Fred’s leg. Fred kept himself completely immobile, too baffled by the entire situation to be able to concentrate fully. The feeling of the girl’s nails in his thigh was strange but his body was also attempting to betray him. Her hands so high up on his leg was causing _certain_ parts of him to come up and say hello. Fred kept his gaze locked on the fire trying to think of anything that would stave it off enough. 

About half an hour later, Hermione curled herself up between the twins and fell asleep. As soon as he was sure she was out cold, Fred got the attention of the rest of the Golden Trio and extracted himself from the admittedly comfortable witch. Fred dragged Ron and Harry upstairs to his dorm and locked the door. 

“Seriously boys, what the hell has happened to your friend?!” He asked, running a hand through his hair. 

“What’s up with you and her? I asked you if anything had happened and you lied to me!” Ron all but shouted.

“Ron, I didn’t lie. Absolutely nothing has happened with us. It’s weird. All of a sudden she’s just been staring at me. _Creepy_ staring.” Fred sat down on his bed and continued, “Tonight… I don’t even know! What’s happening. This isn’t like Hermione at all.”

Ron was still looking a little angry but Harry looked at Fred and could see the confusion and concern in his usually mischievous eyes. “We don’t know, to be honest. Over the last few weeks she’s been acting strange, but she seems to act like everything is normal.”

Fred nodded, “Ok ok… Right, tell me exactly what’s been happening.”

Ron and Harry took a seat on George’s bed and listed off everything that has happened so far with Hermione; constant sleeping, her new milk habit, the purring and the unfortunate scratching incident with Seamus. Fred then told them exactly what had been going on earlier in the day. Once they were done, they were all looking more confused. 

That was until Fred’s head snapped up in realisation. “Everything you’ve said sounds like a… guys, she’s acting almost exactly like a cat! Do you think she’s been cursed?”

Harry and Ron looked at each other in shock. “You don’t think it could be to do with…” Harry began.

“I don’t know. Didn’t Pomfrey sort it out?” Ron answered.

“Didn’t Pomfrey sort out what? What the hell has happened to Hermione?” Harry and Ron looked at each other, unsure whether they should reveal what they knew. “Come on, explain!” Fred pushed.

Harry sighed, “Ok, so in our second year we - Hermione anyway - brewed polyjuice potion for us three to infiltrate the Slytherin common room. Hermione, she had a bit of an accident.”

Fred raised his eyebrow, mainly for the fact that they were messing with polyjuice at 12 but also for the fact that it was Hermione who had the accident. “What kind of accident?” He asked.

Ron continued their story, “She thought she had Millicent Bulstrode’s hair… Turns out it was cat fur. She turned into a humanoid cat. Madame Pomfrey sorted her out.”

“Or so we thought,” Harry muttered.

“Wait, Hermione turned into a cat in your second year?” Fred asked. “Surely if we take her to Madame Pomfrey, she can address this properly?”

Ron rolled his eyes, “We’ve tried to get her to go to the Infirmary but she refuses to acknowledge that there is anything wrong.”

“Ron’s right. It’s like… In her mind, what she’s doing is normal,” Harry continued. 

Fred sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Hermione obviously needed help but, from what the boys were saying, Hermione couldn’t recognise anything being wrong. And that witch was stubborn as anything. They needed a plan. Some way to get Hermione in front of Madame Pomfrey without her knowing exactly what was happening. Honestly, that girl was far too intelligent for anything they could come up with in one evening and any kind of intervention or ambush would be taken in the wrong way. Fred, Ron and Harry decided that they would keep an extra close eye on her whilst they planned.

They eventually rejoined the group to find that Hermione was still curled up where they had left her. They all carried on laughing and joking around the fire, everyone trying to ignore the movements of the bushy-haired witch as she woke up. She continued to shower Fred with her strange feline attention until it seemed she was eventually bored or just tired of the noise. Hermione, without so much of a goodnight, sauntered her way up to her bed. Once there, she removed her clothes, closed the curtains of her bed and curled up on top of the duvet, fast asleep. 

The next morning, Hermione awoke bright and early. She unraveled herself and stretched every one of her sleepy muscles. Once she was thoroughly satisfied, Hermione batted away the curtains of her bed and lept down, coming to a halt in front of the door. She stood and stared for a moment, utterly baffled that the door wasn’t moving for her. She lifted her hand and began to scratch at the door, obviously hoping it would allow her passage. It didn’t. 

By a stroke of luck, Hermione caught the door handle whilst scratching away and it swung open. With a smug look on her face, Hermione strode purposefully down the stairs and into the empty common room. She looked to all of the chairs and sofas and her eyes settled on the one that she thought looked most comfortable. She clambered onto the sofa on all fours and stretched once more before curling up for a nap. It was awfully tiring walking down those stairs, after all!

Fred had barely been able to sleep all night. His mind tossed between being really worried for Hermione, trying to work out how he could help her, and being really turned on by Hermione, which he was confused and mildly disgusted by. Not disgusted in the way that you would think, he thought these new feelings were brought on by her new feline tendencies and that horrified him. He had so much on his mind that he couldn’t hear the logical part of his brain reminding him that he had always seen her as beautiful, he had always admired her mind and her dedication to those she loved. He couldn’t remember all of those little thoughts that had been in the back of his mind for a long time because the girl he was losing sleep over was going through something utterly crazy and he was being forced to face them much sooner than he was ready to.

Deciding it was a lost cause to even attempt to try to sleep any more, Fred got up and headed straight for the shower. Once he was clean and ready, he made his way down to the common room to relax a little. As it was Sunday, he knew no one would be up yet and thought this could be the perfect time to sit and make sense of his head. 

He clambered down the stairs and honestly, nothing could have prepared him for the scene before him. Hermione Granger was laying stark bollock naked, stretched out on her front on the sofa asleep. His jaw dropped to the floor as he took in every inch of the witch. Her hair was an absolute mess, out in all directions as though she’d had a few rounds on her back. Fred’s eyes followed the smooth curve of her back and down to her arse, which was raised ever so slightly, sticking out just the right amount for…

_No, Fred! This is not the time!_ Fred shook his mind clear of the traitorous thoughts and quickly made his way through the common room. He kept his eyes out for anyone else who may come down as he summoned a blanket and tried to cover Hermione as much as possible. He knew she would be mortified that he had seen her, but he could reason that it was better he see her, rather than a complete random or even the entire house. He hoped she would see it that way. 

As he lay the fluffy tartan blanket over her body, Hermione wriggled away and pushed the blanket off with her feet. _I guess this won’t be easy, then,_ Fred thought to himself. Taking a deep breath, Fred gently shook Hermione’s bare shoulder, trying to wake her up. Whilst she didn’t wake up fully the first time, throwing out a swift scratch, eventually, Hermione’s eyes fluttered open and locked onto Fred’s. 

Unexpectedly, Hermione’s next move wasn’t to blush, scream and grab for a blanket. As soon as she recognised Fred kneeling before her, she got up off the sofa and threw herself at the red-head, curling herself up in his lap. For some reason, she didn’t acknowledge her state of undress and, in Fred’s mind, this was bad. One: He didn’t want to be seen by someone else and accused of sexual harassment etc. Two: He didn’t want any(more) rumours to begin circling about Hermione and himself (mainly Hermione). And Three: This couldn’t be good when it comes to the ‘acting like a cat’ thing. Sensing that Hermione wouldn’t leave his arms, he grabbed the earlier-discarded blanket and hesitantly wrapped it around the girl and himself. At first, she tried to shake it off but eventually, she settled and allowed herself to be covered. 

As soon as he was sure she was sufficiently cloaked, he decided this was the only chance that he would have to just get the girl in front of Madame Pomfrey. Casting a quick featherlight charm on the bundle in his arms, he made his way to the Hospital Wing as quickly as he could without jolting her awake. He had no idea how she would react and much better for her to awaken behind closed doors rather than in the middle of a public corridor. 

Fred kicked the door to the Infirmary open and carried Hermione over to the nearest bed. As he tried to put her down, she screeched and dug her claws _(CLAWS?!)_ in, holding onto Fred tight, meaning he had no choice but to sit himself on the bed and hold onto the young girl. Madame Pomfrey came shuffling through to them as quickly as she could, having been alerted to their presence via the door’s wards. When she spotted Fred Weasley sitting with a blanketed Hermione Granger curled up in his lap, she had no idea what to think. 

“Mr. Weasley, please explain yourself,” she demanded, waving her hands towards their… situation.

“Hermione needs your help, Madam. I brought her here as soon as I could,” Fred tried to explain.

Sending the helplessness in Fred’s voice, Madame Pomfrey calmed down. “Oh, my dear. What has happened, has she been attacked? Please, place her down on the bed and I will run my diagnostics.”

Fred looked up at the woman, “She hasn’t been attacked, that I know of. And I would put her on the bed but that screech you heard as you came in is what happens when I try to do anything other than hold her.”

Madame Pomfrey sighed, “Well I will need you to explain as best you can what has happened.”

Fred nodded and began. “Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. You are aware that Hermione had an unfortunate potions accident back in her second year, yes?” Madame Pomfrey nodded for him to continue. “And you know _what_ she turned into, yes?” The Medi-Witch’s face dropped as she nodded once more. “Well, Hermione is showing symptoms of something akin to that same animal.”

Madame Pomfrey gasped, “You’re sure?” Fred nodded. “I need you to tell me everything, young man. All symptoms, how long this has been going on and why it has taken so long for someone to bring this to my attention.”

Fred agreed and began to explain everything that he had been told by Ron and Harry along with everything he had witnessed. Pomfrey had a Quick Quotes Quill take down everything the boy said, reviewing everything as she went, growing paler and paler as the conversation went on. When Fred had finished, Pomfrey took the parchment containing their conversation and rolled it up. 

“And you say she has been speaking as usual throughout this time?” She asked.

“Up until last night, I can confirm. I haven’t made an attempt so far this morning as she has been asleep the entire time.”

Madame Pomfrey nodded and bent low towards the sleeping witch. She carded her hand through the girl’s hair and noted that she immediately started purring. “Miss Granger?” Hermione’s eyes fluttered lightly, but remained closed. “Hermione, dear. I need you to wake up for me.” Upon hearing her name, Hermione’s eyes snapped open, looking alarmingly into the medi-witch’s eyes. “Hermione, dear. Your friend has brought you to me. Do you know where you are?”

Hermione’s head snapped up and she started to look around the room. She opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. Hermione meowed at them, each one getting louder and louder. When she finally gave up, she tucked her head under Fred’s chin sadly. 

“Right,” Pomfrey said, writing things down. “She seems to understand what we are saying. She is aware of who she is but there is something happening inside her that seems to be taking over subconsciously. Oh, you poor dear.” Pomfrey patted Hermione on the head lightly. “Mr. Weasley, your friend is in there but there is something stronger fighting for dominance. As I see it, that something is winning.” She stood and made her way to her office.

“You… You can help her, right?” Fred asked, his plead dripping with desperation. 

Madame Pomfrey turned and faced the red-head with a dejected look, “I can mend broken bones, Mr. Weasley, but I am not the person to be mending the mind. I’m no Mind Healer. We are going to have to call in the professionals.” With that, she turned and strode over to her fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder and called out, “St. Mungo’s, Head Healer’s Office.”

Fred stayed exactly where he was, attempting to comfort the young witch in his arms. He could feel the struggle going on below him.

Inside her mind, Hermione didn’t know how to feel and she couldn’t understand what was going on. She was terrified and furious with what was happening. She had never felt so out of control of her own mind and body. She felt like she was being placed under the Imperius curse and she was trying to fight back. The pain in her head as she struggled against the dark… whatever it was… that was trying to take over was becoming unbearable. She wanted it all to be over. She wanted to go back to normal. She wanted to get back to studying and her classes. She wanted to laugh with her friends. _Harry! Ron! Do they know what’s happening? Do they know where I am?_ Hermione started whimpering and Fred tightened his hold on the girl. Fred’s comfort felt… It felt safe. It felt like home. Both Hermione and the mind-stranger relaxed into the feeling of Fred’s arms around her and she drifted off into a wistful sleep. 

** \--- Break --- **

When she awoke, the first thing she noticed was that she was cold. The warm body was no longer next to her. As she blinked her eyes open, she was blinded by the light rebounding off of the white walls. Once her eyes finally adjusted to the intrusion, she looked around. She was on a bed with scratchy white blankets. The bed faced the white door and to her left was a window with white blinds opened. She looked down and her body was draped in a cotton gown. It irritated her and she immediately began scratching at it, trying her best to get it off. After a while, the ties loosened and it fell from her body. 

She stretched and, once satisfied, she lept down to the floor and made her way to the door. She sat on the floor and scratched and meowed until the silver door knob turned, the door coming towards her. Hermione scrambled away from the movement and hid on the other side of the bed as a woman in a white coat came in slowly and carefully. 

“Miss Granger?” The woman asked. “Hermione, I’m Healer Merrywether. I’m here to help you. Do you want to come out and see me?” The healer sat herself on the bed slowly and patted the space beside her. “Come on. Up you come.”

Hermione sensed that the woman wasn’t going to hurt her and crawled up onto the bed. The healer tried to drape the hospital gown over Hermione’s body, but it was immediately batted off. The healer, guessing Hermione didn’t want to be covered, placed privacy wards on the doors and got to work. 

Healer Merrywether was the leading mind-healer and was the only person who stood up and offered to work on Hermione’s case, to try to find out exactly what had happened inside Hermione’s mind and reverse it. Due to the lack of research into animal polyjuice transformations, Merrywether had to start from the very beginning and didn’t know how long it would take, but she was prepared for months, maybe even years of sleepless nights, waking up with her face in her research, parchment stuck to her face, hours upon hours holed up in the hospital potions lab. She was determined. She wanted this young woman to get better. She wanted to be able to reverse this and ensure that the rest of the Wizarding World could rest that little bit easier, knowing there was a cure should there be an accident.

** \--- ONE YEAR LATER --- **

Fred walked into the ward and spotted his reason for being in the hospital sitting by the window, staring out at the world going by. Fred plastered a smile on his face and cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned and beamed as she saw her favourite redhead come in. How long had it been since she had last seen him? It felt like forever. She scrambled over and jumped into his arms, nuzzling her head into his neck, breathing him in. He was familiar and safe, not like the others that came in here. 

Fred laughed and carried her back over to the window seat, knowing it was her favourite place to sit during the day. She crawled off of him and laid down with her head in his lap, looking out at the bustling city. Fred carded his hands through the witch’s hair and smiled as she purred. 

“I’ve missed you, you know,” he sighed, “I miss having you there with us all. The joke shop is doing really well, ‘Mione. It would be even better if you were there to tell us off for the mischief you know people would cause using everything George and I make. It’s not the same. Oh, George says hi and he misses you! I know you saw Harry and Ron before they went back to school, they miss you too. They send me letters, they tell me they wish they could be let out of school to come and see you but they also know you’d have their heads if they ditched their education just to see you.” Hermione’s head shot up and her eyes narrowed. 

Fred chuckled as he remembered that look being directed at him several times before this all happened. There were these moments that Fred saw a tiny glimpse of the girl that was trapped by this strange illness/curse. It was these moments that he knew that she was still in there, dying to get out, fighting to get out. These rare moments kept Fred’s hopes up and pushed him to continue to help funding the research that was being done in an attempt to find the cure. He, Harry and, of course, The Grangers put all that they could into Healer Merrywether’s research, hoping that their loved one would finally return to them.

Hermione dropped her head back into his lap and purred contentedly as Fred carded his fingers through her hair. They stayed like that for a few hours, Fred telling her stories of the making of his creations, the injuries he sustained, the mishaps and the successes. He read letters from Ron, Harry, her parents and anyone else who had thought of her. When it was time to leave, Fred carried Hermione over to her bed and tucked her in, he was the only one she knowingly allowed to place her under any kind of covers. Placing a kiss on her forehead and promising to return in a couple of days, Fred turned and left, not noticing the single tear that fell from the young girl’s eye. 

Fred headed straight for Healer Merrywether’s office, knocking politely before being granted entrance. He smiled and took the offered seat. “Hello Healer Merrywether, I hope you are well.”

Merrywether smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. “I am as well as you can expect. My body is 80% coffee and 20% pepper up and I can’t remember when I last slept,” she laughed. 

Fred laughed along nervously, slightly guilty for how hard she was working but he knew this was what she had chosen and it was in no way forced. “I know that feeling. George and I have mad moments like that, especially when we were starting out. It only really happens when we try to come up with a completely new line. But enough about me, how is the research coming along?”

Merrywether shuffled through some parchment and handed it over. “Slowly,” she admitted, “I knew this was going to be difficult but I am having to research back centuries just to possibly find a slither of correlating data. I’m nearly through everything that could possibly assist. And I’ve got barely anything to go on. I think it’ll have to be a trial and error experimentation kind of case.” She immediately noticed Fred’s frown. “I know it’s not great but believe me, I will crack this. You will get your friend back.”

Fred gave her a watery smile, “Um… I think she’s more than a friend.” 

Merrywether stood up and rounded the desk, placing a hand on Fred’s shoulder. “I know, Fred. Trust me, I don’t care how long it takes, I will get her back for you.”

Fred laughed away the tears that threatened their way out, “Yeah, well don’t take too long. I’m in my prime and I don’t want her to have me all old and wrinkly yet!”

Merrywether laughed, “I’ll do my best. I’ll see you next month for another update, ok? If you need anything, my floo is always open.”

Fred nodded and stood to leave. With a last nod to the Healer, he left and made his way back to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, trying to keep his thoughts positive. He needed to stay positive for everyone. For Harry and Ron. He had to stay positive for Hermione. _His_ Hermione.

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of amazeballs people created Writer's Den, a Discord server for writers, readers and betas to congregate and be awesome together! We are one hugely dysfunctional family and I love them all! Join us! https://discord.gg/zTqjuhQ We want our family to grow!


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